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Microsoft - at least in comparison to Apple - has a veritable romance underway with Adobe. But that hasn't stopped Microsoft from flirting with other, more Apple-friendly technologies. Case in point: Microsoft has dibs on H.264-based HTML5 for the all-important web video content market.

In recent days, we've all witnessed Apple's relationship with Adobe deteriorate into a vitriolic war of wars between two former allies in a brave new tech world ripe for the software and technologies of both companies. But with Steve Jobs' latest published rant effectively dismissing Adobe as a thing of the past, Apple is clearly notifying the tech world that Cupertino is moving in a new direction and that everyone else - that is, if they want their content available through an iDevice - should follow along.

Strangely enough, one of the first major names to seemingly get on board with Apple in recent days is Microsoft, which is now also propping up the H.264 standard for HTML5 video content. According to Dean Hachamovitch, Microsoft general manager for Internet Explorer:

The future of the web is HTML5. Microsoft is deeply engaged in the HTML5 process with the W3C. HTML5 will be very important in advancing rich, interactive web applications and site design. The HTML5 specification describes video support without specifying a particular video format. We think H.264 is an excellent format. In its HTML5 support, IE9 will support playback of H.264 video only.

While Microsoft continues to broadly support Flash in many aspects, this latest hint suggests that the spark lit by Apple could result in an anti-Flash conflagration that may sweep across the digital landscape in the coming years. While Steve Jobs cited at least six major reasons why Flash is simply not worth supporting in the iPhone OS, Hachamovitch is also trumpeting complaints about Flash's most-nagging issues - those, in particular, that relate to performance, security, and reliability.

By no means is Microsoft dumping Flash. But Microsoft is clearly no longer looking at Flash as a thing of the future. Microsoft and Apple are now arguably united in a likely perception of Adobe as a lingering blast from the past.